Mortal: The Path to Immortality

Three days later, in front of the court of law enforcement.

Lu Nanzhu and his senior brother Kong met here.

"I didn't expect Junior Brother Lu to arrive so early." Kong Yuan stopped his magical artifact at the entrance of the Enforcement Hall.

"Senior brother is here. I just arrived too."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two entered the Hall of Law Enforcement together and arrived at the main hall.

Looking at the familiar stone pillars and dome, and feeling that familiar chill, Lu Nanzhu chuckled to himself:

"We've come to this place again."

However, unlike when they were interrogated before, the chairs on the stage in the hall were empty, and three Foundation Establishment cultivators were standing around them.

Lu Nanzhu glanced at the three cultivators and was surprised to find an old acquaintance among them.

The leader, Zhou Tong, was the Foundation Establishment elder who had questioned him during the last interrogation. He was now at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

In addition, Luo Jin, whom I had previously encountered in the Blood Forbidden Land of Hundred Flowers, was also among them. In just two years, he had broken through from the tenth level of Qi Refining to the early stage of Foundation Establishment.

"Even he has reached the Foundation Establishment stage; his aptitude is quite good," Lu Nanzhu exclaimed in amazement.

The remaining tall, unfamiliar cultivator among the three possessed the cultivation level of the early Foundation Establishment stage.

"Greetings, fellow Daoists." Senior Brother Kong stepped forward first, clasped his hands in greeting, and Lu Nanzhu followed closely behind.

The three men turned around, saw Lu Nanzhu and his companion, and simply bowed in return.

When Zhou Tong saw Lu Nanzhu, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes:

"It was you!"

"Senior Brother Zhou, how have you been?" Lu Nanzhu smiled and cupped his hands in greeting.

"Alright, everyone's here. Senior Brother Zhou, what are the plans for this trip? Tell us quickly."

Senior Brother Kong noticed that the atmosphere between the two seemed a bit awkward, so he quickly stepped forward to change the subject.

Zhou Tong also withdrew his gaze, looked at Kong Yuan, and coughed twice, saying:

"This trip is to Qingyuan City in Fengzhou. This city is not far from Spirit Beast Mountain. We can reach it in an hour by taking the spirit vulture from the sect's post station."

He turned back to the tall, imposing cultivator and continued:

"This is Junior Brother Han Ze, Elder Lin's disciple, and also from the Han family of Fengzhou. He will be leading us to the Han family today."

Han Ze stepped forward and cupped his hands in greeting to each of the cultivators present:

"This matter has come suddenly, and we need the assistance of all of you fellow Daoists. If it is successful, the Han family will be eternally grateful."

After Zhou Tong finished explaining the details of the plan, everyone left the Enforcement Hall and arrived at the sect's post station.

The group then rode the spirit vulture to Qingyuan City.

......

Qingyuan City, nestled against mountains and beside water, can truly be called a treasure land.

After entering the city, the group was led by Han Ze through several bustling streets and arrived at the Han family mansion located in the east of the city.

Stepping through the vermilion gate, Lu Nanzhu looked around and found that the Han family mansion was also running in an orderly manner.

Occasionally, servants would hurry past carrying things along the covered walkway, and upon seeing the crowd, they would lower their heads and stand respectfully away. The flowers and plants in the garden were still meticulously trimmed.

It seems that the disappearance of the head of the household has not caused any chaos in the mansion.

Upon arriving at the entrance of the main hall, Han Lin, the acting head of the family, was already waiting there with his family.

This man was about forty years old, with a fair complexion and refined appearance. He was also a Qi Refining cultivator. Upon seeing the group, he quickly bowed.

"Esteemed immortal masters, you have come from afar. I, Han, have failed to greet you properly."

After saying that, he led everyone into the main hall.

After everyone was seated, he awkwardly sat in the main seat, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the Qilin pattern on the armrest of the seat, a hint of secret joy in his eyes.

Seemingly realizing his behavior was inappropriate, he quickly stood up again:

"My elder brother has been missing for several days. Although the entire Han family has done their best to search for him, they have been unsuccessful. We earnestly hope that you immortal masters can use your magic to find my elder brother."

Seated to Han Lin's left was a wealthy woman adorned with gold and silver; she was Han Lin's wife. Upon hearing Han Lin's words, she snorted coldly, flicked her handkerchief, and spoke in a sarcastic tone:

"Looking for him? What's there to look for? In my opinion, it's better to have peace and quiet now that the old man is gone."

When he was in charge, he led the Han family to seize the spiritual fields and mines of neighboring families by trickery and force, making countless deadly enemies.

"Our Han family is now the target of everyone's hatred. If it weren't for your hard work these past few days, this house would probably have been demolished long ago!"

"Don't talk nonsense in front of the immortal master!" Han Lin scolded, but there was little annoyance in his eyes.

"What nonsense am I talking about? The Han family has only had a few days of peace since he disappeared!" The noblewoman became even more domineering, listing all the misdeeds of the missing head of the family, clearly intending to make everyone back down.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the hall.

A pretty young girl with red and swollen eyes suddenly ran into the hall. She was Han Cailing, the daughter of the Han family patriarch.

Disregarding etiquette, she knelt directly before Lu Nanzhu and the others, sobbing uncontrollably.

"I beg you, esteemed immortal masters, you must save my father! He is not the kind of person my aunt described; everything he did was for the Han family!"

Immediately afterward, a little boy, about six or seven years old, stumbled in.

He grabbed Han Cailing's arm, raised his small, innocent face, and cried out in a tearful voice, "Sister, I want Daddy too... I want Daddy back!"

After he finished speaking, he looked timidly at the elders in the hall.

"Zhonglin, don't be afraid, your sister is here." Han Cailing hugged her somewhat timid younger brother and comforted him.

"Cai Ling, don't be rude!" Han Lin frowned slightly and stepped forward to help the girl up. "Your uncle will make the arrangements. You take your brother and go down first."

Han Cailing suddenly looked up, her stubborn eyes staring directly at Han Lin, her gaze filled with distrust.

The atmosphere in the main hall plummeted to freezing point, and everyone felt somewhat lost and uneasy.

"Miss Han, please rest assured. We will do our best to help you find your father."

"I'm sure your father wouldn't bear to see you like this either," Lu Nanzhu said, trying to comfort him.

Han Cailing turned to look at Lu Nanzhu, her eyes filled with gratitude, and stood up to bow, saying:

"This humble woman thanks all the immortal masters in advance."

After saying that, she carried her younger brother and left the main hall.

"Please excuse my rudeness, esteemed immortal masters," Han Lin quickly apologized. "A few days ago, my elder brother led several elite disciples of the clan to a spirit stone mine. Since then, we have not been able to find him."

"My elder brother is a Foundation Establishment cultivator; ordinary rogue cultivators might not be able to harm him. That's why I've troubled you, several immortal masters, to come and help. A reward will surely be given after the matter is resolved."

"In that case, let's not delay and head to that mine right away?" suggested the big guy, Han Ze.

"I see that it is getting late, and my fellow disciples have traveled for a long time and are quite tired."

"How about we search the Han family mansion first, rest for the night, and then head to the mine tomorrow?" Luo Jin, who had been silent all along, looked around at everyone and spoke up.

"Yes, yes! I will immediately order my servants to prepare rooms for you immortal masters to rest," Han Lin replied hastily.

"Alright then, if that's the case, let's go to the mine tomorrow," Zhou Tong agreed.

Afterwards, everyone left the main hall and returned to their rooms to rest and recuperate.

Sensing the strange atmosphere at the Han family's residence, Lu Nanzhu decided to search the mansion first.

As evening approached, he took the "full warehouse" out of his pocket and released it. He also took out a set of small red, yellow, and green flags.

Since "Mancang" cannot speak, it was previously trained to use different colored flags to categorize what it detects. For example, red represents danger, green represents opportunity, and yellow represents the unknown.

Although most of the time, "full position" will be reluctantly picked up the yellow flag after exploration.

"There's no way around it. Even the most skillful beast-taming techniques can't understand the thoughts of spirit beasts." Lu Nanzhu sighed, then looked at the set of small flags before him and thought to himself:

"If I could become a 'Druid,' I wouldn't have to go through all this trouble."

Before long, the "full warehouse" that had been released returned and, as expected, raised its small yellow flag.

Looking at it, Lu Nanzhu could only shake his head helplessly, but decided to follow it to find out what was going on.

He then discovered a medicinal herb field within the mansion, where some common herbs were grown.

He squatted down and examined the medicinal herb field. The field was not well maintained and the soil was somewhat barren, but in the strange atmosphere of the Han family mansion, there was a rare trace of fresh medicinal fragrance.

A moment later, he heard heavy footsteps behind him. Lu Nanzhu turned around and saw Han Cailing carrying a heavy wooden bucket, her forehead covered in fine beads of sweat.

Upon seeing Lu Nanzhu, Han Cailing was taken aback at first, then hurriedly put down the wooden bucket in her hand, wiped her hands on her apron, and bowed respectfully:

"Yes... Senior, what brings you here?"

"Oh, I was just wandering around and happened to smell the herbs, so I came to take a look." Lu Nanzhu stood up, patted the dirt off his fingertips, and pointed to the herb field in front of him, asking, "Is this herb field yours?"

Han Cailing's expression dimmed slightly, and her voice lowered:

"When my mother was alive, she disliked the quality of the herbs bought in town, so she casually planted some commonly used ones here, saying they would help my brother and me improve our health. My mother passed away a few years ago, and I couldn't bear to see this land go to waste, so I've kept it here ever since."

At this point, her eyes reddened slightly, and she subconsciously turned her head to dab her eyes with her sleeve.

"Miss Han, please accept my condolences." Lu Nanzhu looked at the girl in front of him and couldn't find a more appropriate way to comfort her.

"You flatter me, senior." She took a deep breath and forced a polite smile. As if remembering something, she quickly asked, "Senior, did you come here to look for some medicinal herbs? I only have some simple herbs here, but if you need them, I can take you to 'Xinglinzhai' in the city."

"Xinglinzhai?" Lu Nanzhu raised an eyebrow and repeated the name.

"That's the biggest pharmacy in Qingyuan City." Han Cailing said, her eyes showing genuine respect. "A few days ago, a kind-hearted immortal master came to the pharmacy and was giving free medical consultations to the people of the city."

That immortal master is not only highly skilled in medicine, but also incredibly approachable to us mortals. If you need any medicine, just go there and ask; you can't go wrong.

Lu Nanzhu rested his chin on his hand, seemingly lost in thought:

"In this dog-eat-dog world of cultivation, it's truly strange that a cultivator would expend energy for a mortal. Well, it's still early, and I have nothing else to do, so I might as well go and take a look."

He looked at Han Cailing, cupped his hands slightly, and said, "In that case, we should indeed pay a visit. Please lead the way, young lady."

Han Cailing was about to bow in agreement when she saw that Lu Nanzhu did not rush to move, but instead casually made a hand seal and waved his wide sleeves.

A thin layer of mist suddenly appeared in the originally clear sky, and then a fine rain precisely enveloped the entire medicinal field, nourishing the dry clods of earth.

"Let's go." Lu Nanzhu withdrew his hand, his tone indifferent.

"Yes...yes! Senior, please follow me." Han Cailing then came to her senses and quickly took a few steps to lead the way.